In brief

Lead organisation: West Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust

Partners: East Midlands Mental Health Research Network Hub, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Mental Health Trusts, Lincoln and Nottingham Universities, Trent Research and Development Support Unit.

The project worked to discourage GPs from prescribing sleeping pills as a first line response, and to encourage them to explore other treatment options first, which may be more in line with what patients actually need. 

In a survey of 1,000 patients and 40 GP practices in Lincolnshire, nine out of ten insomnia patients were on a repeat prescription started by their GP. About two thirds took it inappropriately and half said they’d tried to come off treatment.

Alternative treatments available include a sleep hygiene approach and sleep restriction. Sleep hygiene aims to regulate sleep patterns and includes avoiding things like caffeine, alcohol, exercise and eating late in the evening. 

The team used a multidisciplinary approach involving patients, clinicians, practices and pharmacy support. It worked with patients to understand what they need from a consultation for insomnia and tested the impact of different approaches.